Objective

To assess the effects of an intervention which combines standardized theoretical classes with the use of SP, on the knowledge which undergraduate students, undergoing their psychiatric nursing subject, have on schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Method

This was a qualitative and descriptive study on a universe of 157 nursing students from the fifth and sixth semesters of their program. Data collection was conducted through a knowledge assessment instrument which was submitted to content validity tests. The SPSS(r) program was used to analyze these data.

Results

From the intervention, it was observed that the methodology of standardized class increments in an average of 34% the students' knowledge, while the use of SP contributes with an additional 10%. When combining both methodologies, and without any other content-deepening technique, the students' knowledge on schizophrenia increased 49.4% while their knowledge on mood disorders increased 41.9%.

Conclusion

The use of combined methodological strategies contributes to the acquisition of formation-needed knowledge by undergraduate psychiatric nursing students.